Chapter 4

Jenny took a pair of scissors and gently cut away Shannon's shirt at the shoulder, preserving the other woman's bra and modesty. She'd seen gunshot wounds just like this one before. "Small caliber, Ducky, smaller than a 9mm. She's lost some blood but tissue damage seems minimal all things considered. No bone fragments, no heavy bleeding, just muscle damage."

It helped her to talk about facts instead of what she'd just seen happen.

"You're not a doctor too, are you, Director?" Shannon guessed who she was, although even without hearing the name she'd have known this was one of Jethro's former women. He was predictable, if nothing else. "I thought you were a field agent perhaps? Tony mentioned your name. It's nice to meet someone else who has helped Jethro out over the years."

"No, I'm not, Shannon. Please call me Jenny, Shannon. I was an agent, and with our Ducky around, we've all learned to adapt. His assistant is off currently, so I'm his temporary assistant."

Jenny didn't help Jethro as much as he'd helped her. "Your husband trained me when I first joined the agency. Tony mentioned my name? In what context?" It was all she'd allow at the moment.

"I believe that he said you had traveled through Europe with Jethro." Shannon watched the other red head's reaction to her words. "He must have taught you well, if you've risen through the ranks as quickly as you obviously did. I commend you. I can't imagine its easy being a female in this world of politics. And keeping all these men in check, I don't begrudge you your job."

"He and Ducky did well. The three of us were a team." Jennifer wasn't about to admit she and Jethro had a romantic history. Jenny looked down at the other woman. "I admire you for putting up with a younger Jethro. I have to assume he mellowed with age. You must be up for sainthood."

"He was a pussycat when he was younger. Although I don't suppose our marriage suffered from the time he was away. I had a friend who dated a professional athlete, and she said when he was in season, he was wonderful. Rarely around, and it always seemed like they were having welcome-home sex. It was when the season was done and he was home all the time that they had problems."

Shannon remembered that it had been like that to a point with the two of them. He was wonderful for a while but once he started getting bored, things got tense and they argued. "Maybe it was a good thing that he shipped out on a semi-regular basis. We missed him while he was gone, and it was great when he got home, if you know what I mean. But he never stuck around long enough to get to the point where we were arguing."

Jen nodded, realizing that what Shannon said made a great deal of sense. "Ducky has known him the longest and until Jethro was injured a couple of years ago, he'd never mentioned you or Kelly to us. Losing you changed him a great deal, Shannon. Maybe with you back, your old Jethro will return as well."

"That happening changed us all." Looking at the door Jethro had run out to chase after Tony, she wasn't sure she'd ever see her Jethro again. Maybe he would have turned into this man even if she had been there. "You never know, but I'm not counting on it. I just am glad to see him, and to give Kelly the father she missed so much. It's been a rough period for us both."

"That is an understatement," Jen said softly. "I know that you don't know me, Shannon, but if you'd like someone to talk to ... or if Kelly would. I spent much of my life without my father, and I know something about how that feels."

"Thank you, I appreciate the offer. Maybe not knowing you will make it easier to share. You obviously know more about me than I do you. Kelly and I have depended on one another for far too long, that learning to share with others is going to take some time."

Jen regarded the woman with a small nod, wondering if they could become friends. They had a certain gray-haired man in common. "I know very little. Just that you and Jethro married, had Kelly, and the incident that he thought took your life. Ducky here is his best friend and Jethro and I had..." A history, but she wouldn't say that.

"A lot of time working together. And he never once mentioned either of you to us. We only found out when he was injured. He's incredibly locked in and locked down. Ducky said he was very much happy-go-lucky when they first met, but I never saw that. He's very guarded with his emotions and nobody gets his heart."

But Tony, and that was another kettle of fish.

Shannon sighed. "He was always like that, even with me. The only person he ever really opened up with is Kelly. She was a complete Daddy's girl, had him wrapped around her pinky finger several times. You'll see, give them a day or two, let Kelly get completely comfortable and it'll be just like she was seven again."

Jen squeezed Shannon's hand. "I look forward to it. None of us have ever seen that side of Jethro. Ducky has known him for twelve or so years and I've known him a decade now."

"He was always so good with her. Not always the best husband, we had our problems. But as a father, I couldn't have asked for a better man. He was completely devoted to Kelly and making sure she had everything she could even think she wanted. I have a picture, back at the safehouse, of the two of them having a tea party. Jethro was wearing a pink feather boa and some floppy hat that Kelly thought looked like something that should be worn at high tea. It's one of the few pictures that made it through all the moves. If someone could make sure that makes it back to me, I'd appreciate it. We don't have a lot of memories like that left, and I want to keep the ones I still have."

"Give me the address. I'll get a team over there to investigate and collect your belongings. And Shannon, I want to see that picture. I couldn't even picture him like that, and we ... once upon a time ... we were ... close." She hadn't intended to "go there" but it had slipped out, maybe she subconsciously wanted Shannon to know in case they could establish a friendship.

Shannon gave Jen the address and she sent a team over to clean up the place and a few agents to pack the Gibbs women's belongings.

Ducky continued to work after Jen drifted away, packing and irrigating the wound before bandaging it snugly. "Shannon, how is your pain level? Would you like to lie down or sit up? I have a cardigan here if you're cool or if not, I have some scrubs or Jenny brought down one of Jethro's shirts. How can we make you comfortable, my dear?"

"Considering I've been shot, I don't feel that bad. I think I might still be in shock. I'll be feeling it in the morning, I'm sure." She had been left in her bra, which she was thankful for, but her shirt was destroyed. "Scrubs would be fine. Jethro's going to need his shirt, since I bled all over him. I'm fine really. Just trying to process everything that went on today. I can't believe I'm here. I had every intention of being out of town already, didn't think anyone would be coming after us."

Ducky nodded and collected a scrub top. "Here, my dear. Let me help." Ducky worked the shirt over her torso gently and escorted her to his desk chair. "We haven't much in the way of posh accommodations here, but we do try. The patients hardly ever complain." He gathered his cardigan into a thick pad and placed it over her back. "There, you should have some cushioning when you lean back, my dear. What a miracle for Jethro, having you and Kelly back. Are you hungry? Would you like more soda, or perhaps something a bit stronger."

He hovered over her, not quite knowing where to turn or what to do.

"I don't know if he's thinking it's much of a miracle right now, if the earlier scene is anything to go by. I really screwed this up. I've known for years that Jethro was alive, but I did what the Marshals told us to do. I was to have no contact or we'd be removed from the program. When I finally got the nerve up to look him up, he was married again. I couldn't just show up and say, look at me, we're both alive and back."